Crimean War - British Firearms

Crimean War - British Firearms

1.a.i. Musket New Pattern 1842. Smoothbore .753 calibre, barrel 39 inches. This model was substituted by the Minié Rifle Pattern 1851 in all regiments en route
to the Crimea with the exception of the 4th Division who retained their smoothbores into early 1855. The 4th Division was held in reserve at the Battle of the
Alma so their muskets were saw little use. Infantry was not much involved at Balaklava save for the 93rd Highlanders whose Minié Rifles earned them the
sobriquet 'The Thin Red Line'. By early 1855 the only smoothbore muskets were those arriving with reinforcements coming from the UK or various foreign
garrisons. These might have included an element of the Musket Pattern 1839 or the Extra Service Musket Pattern 1845 but we have no records either proving or
disproving this. Both these were percussion with 39 inch .753 smoothbore barrels, However, as soon as these troops arrived their smoothbores were withdrawn and
replaced by Minié Rifles. Ammunition for the smoothbore muskets was a ball of .685 diameter in a paper cartridge with 125 grains of powder. Loading procedure
was to open the cartridge at the powder end and pour the powder into the bore followed by the whole body of the cartridge, this was rammed down and given two
blows of the rammer to compress the paper that was around and under the ball. The resultant package was thus, in effect, a ball with sabot and was quite
accurate to around 100 yards and could be used up to 200 yards. Reports of its inefficiency can usually be ascribed to the lack of musketry training by the
users.

1.a.ii. Rifle-Musket Minié Pattern 1851. 39 inch barrel with rifled bore .702, four groove rifling, one turn in 78 inches, sighted to 900 yards. This was the
main rifle for the British for most of the campaign in the Crimea being slowly replaced by the new Rifle-Musket Pattern 1853 during 1855 and 1856. Ammunition -
Minié bullet .685 diameter with iron cup in the base cavity weighing together 670 grains with 70 grains of rifle powder.

It was finally withdrawn in the Crimea by the local General Order from Head Quarters:-

"GENERAL ORDERS.

HEAD QUARTERS, SEBASTOPOL;

5th MARCH, 1856.

…….The issue of the new Enfield Rifle Musket to the Infantry having been completed, all Small Arm Ammunition for the Rifle Musket, Pattern 1851 (Minié) .702
Bore, which may remain in possession of the Troops, or in Divisional Reserves, is to be returned to the Commissary of Ordnance, at Balaklava, without
delay."

1.a.iii Rifle-Musket Pattern 1853, The "Enfield". .577 barrel of 39 inches rifled with three grooves having a spiral of one turn in 78 inches. This
was the first British infantry rifle to have the barrel secured by barrel bands in the French manner. It was sighted to 900 yards. This rifle was produced in
four developing stages after 1854. The Type 1 Enfield started to arrive in the Crimea early in 1855 so it was not available for the three early Battles of
Alma, Balaklava and Inkermann. During 1855 it gradually replaced to 1851 Rifles until the date of the General Order mentioned above. The Type 2 Enfield with
the solid bands secured by springs, so often seen in photographs of Crimean Veterans, replaced the Type 1 during 1855 but none had reached the Crimea before
the Fall of the City in September. The ammunition was altered during the Campaign from a smooth sided cylindro-conoidal bullet with a shallow base cavity .568
diameter to a slightly longer bullet with a much deeper base cavity into which was inserted an iron cup similar to that in the Pattern 1851 Minié. The powder
charge was 70 grains, which was common to all the British rifles. At a later date, after the war, the iron cup was replaced by a wooden plug and the bullet
diameter reduced to .550.

1. a. iv. Royal Marines. The Altered Pattern 1842 Rifle-Musket. This is the 1842 described under 1.a.i. which has been bored up from .753 to .758 and rifled
with four grooves in the same style as the Minié Pattern 1851. It has been fitted with long range sights resembling the 1851 but sighted to 1,000 yards. The
bullet with its iron cup was exceptionally heavy at 825 grains. A few bullets for this rifle have been recovered in the Balaklava area having four narrow
cannelures. These appear to have been the remains of an experimental batch produced for the Naval Experimental facility at HMS Excellent to see if the
cannelures aided steadiness in flight as was averred by some theorists but there was no merit in the idea. These rifles do not appear to have been used in the
fighting around Sevastopol itself. It would appear that they were confined to the defence of Balaklava.

1. b. Cavalry

1. b. i. Victoria Carbine of 1843. A 26 inch barrel in Lovell's improved .733 bore. The ramrod is of the linked or swivel type so that it could not be
lost. The cartridge for this used the musket ball with 70 grains of powder.

1. b. ii. Lancers' Pattern Pistol of 1842. A 9 inch barrel in .753 musket bore. The cartridge for this used the musket ball with 70 grains of powder.

1. c. Royal Artillery and Sappers & Miners (Royal Engineers).

1. c. i. Both of these Corps used an almost identical smoothbore carbines of the Pattern of 1841, the variations being in the bayonets. They were of the Lovell
reduced musket bore with 30 inch barrels of .733 bore intended for the common musket cartridge. It is thought that the Horse Artillery Troops and the horse
drawn Field Batteries were using these smoothbores.

1. c. ii. Royal Artillery. By far the majority of the Artillerymen engaged in the Siege of Sevastopol were involved with the heavy guns of position and they
were equipped with the new Pattern 1853 Artillery Carbine which was a short version of the new Enfield Rifle-Musket. It had a 24 inch barrel with the same .577
bore and rifling twist as the long rifle. There was a single block sight for 100 yards and leaf sights for 200 and 300 yards. The barrel was secured in the new
manner with bands, two instead of the three of the long rifle. It was fitted with a new pattern of bayonet copied from the French Chasseur design with a heavy
recurved blade of the form known as 'Yataghan' with a heavy brass handle which was at a later date changed to the same as handle as the Short Rifle
Pattern 1856 (which did not appear in the Crimea). The exigencies of artillery service called for a steel scabbard instead of the usual leather and brass of
others. The ammunition resembled that of the 1853 Rifle but the powder charge was reduced from 70 grains to 55 grains. These .577 carbines were rushed out in
time for them to be in the hands of the Gunners before the Expedition reached the Crimea and they were there months before the infantry started to receive the
Enfield long rifles.

1. d. i. Land Transport Corps. This newly formed Corps needed to be armed with some reasonably available firearm smaller and lighter than the infantry musket
that would not detract from those needed for Cavalry or Artillery. It was decided that the Constabulary Carbine of Pattern 1842 would be appropriate and a
number were available although the consequent demand required an urgent re-ordering of numbers of newly made ones from the Trade. The Carbine was a .65
smoothbore with a barrel of 27 inches, pin fastened to the stock in the old manner. The cartridge contained a ball of .60 diameter and 70 grains of powder.
These are all marked on the butt plate tang with L.T.C. together with a Company letter and the allocated number.

1. d. ii. Land Transport Corps were also issued with a number of Colt's Revolvers, the Belt Model also known as the Navy Model of 1851. These were six shot
percussion cap revolvers in .36 calibre.

2. Royal Navy

2. a. i. The Short Sea Service Musket. These were 30 inch barrelled versions of the 39 inch Infantry smoothbore Muskets and were made up in the form of the
1839 style of construction rather than the improved 1842 construction. They took the standard musket ball ammunition. The issue of new Short Sea Service
Muskets of the 1842 model seems to have been delayed until after it had been decided to make them all in the rifled version.

2. a. ii. Altered Pattern 1842 Short Sea Service Rifled Musket. These were the 30 inch barrelled version of the Royal Marines Altered Pattern 1842 Minié
Rifles. They used the same pattern of long range leaf sight up to 1,000 yards but because of the reduced sight radius by nine inches between the front and back
sight, the intervals between the engraved range lines had to be condensed.

2. a. iii. Sea Service Pistol. These were short barrelled, only six inches, percussion pistols in the small bore of .567. They used the linked or swivel rammer
to prevent loss and were equipped with a belt-hook in the form of a long prong on the left side of the stock which enabled them to be thrust into a belt or the
waistband of trousers to suit the methods of sailors who did not like to be encumbered by equipment strapped to themselves when engaged in difficult tasks of
operating a ship. The cartridge contained a ball of .500 calibre with 55 grains of powder.

Finally - Officers of all arms purchased their own weapons and there seems to have been no requirement for any uniformity in firearms although swords were
expected to be of the approved regimental pattern.

This is not a compendium of all British arms at the period but only of those associated with the War in the Crimea. My apologies if I have forgotten any but I
am sure someone will remind me if I have.

Usually thought to be the Pattern 1839 but modified and ordered in large numbers after the failure of the Trade to be able to produce enough of the New Pattern
of 1842 due to the much tighter quality controls demanded by the Board of Ordnance. They were then referred to as Extra Service and were intended for arming
Reserves, Colonies, Militia, etc. They took the same Lovell catch bayonet as the 1842 unlike the 1839's Hanoverian catch. Although these Lovell catch
bayonets are the same as those of the 1842 they are usually marked EX on the blade. Over the period of production of the New Pattern 1842 the records show that
for every two of the New Pattern that were made there were five of the Extra Service. The original 1839 that was to be made from converted flintlock parts had
a very limited production because of the massive loss of these spare parts in the huge fire that destroyed the Armouries Store House in 1841. The vast majority
were new built although looking like the original altered flint parts.

Hi Bill, was "Extra Service P 1845 Musket" ever an official contemporary designation or is this a more recent reference to distinguish it?
I too had pondered those prominent EX stamps on the bayonets. Adrian

At this stage the only firm official designation I have is "Extra Service" the term used in the Parliamentary Papers when differentiating them from
the New Pattern of 1842. Research is ongoing and will be published in due course.

Photo 2:
Pat 1839 Short Sea Service Musket
Pat 1842 Short Sea Service Musket (Early production with barrel keys)
Pat 1842 Short Sea Service Musket (Late production with barrel pins)
Victoria carbine (Marked to the Royal Dragoons and thus almost certainly saw Crimean War service)

Wow! you have a very nice collection there indeed - thanks for showing them, guns such as most of these only infrequently become available on the open market
& I can imagine that assembling this display must have consumed some years of pleasure, the P51 is certainly a rare bird & is to be found on more than
a few collector's lists of "must haves". While I wipe the drool from my keyboard may I ask for a few close ups of the P/42 Sea Service muskets? -
having acquired one recently I have a keen interest in learning about these. Regards, Adrian.

Excellent selection. I suspect the /39 is actually an Extra Service. The lock date will be informative and I also suspect that the lock shows no evidence of
ever having been a flintlock. My specimen is interesting in that the lock is dated 1851 but the barrel shows evidence that it started life as a New Land
Flintlock 42 inch barrel. It has Georgian Proof Marks and has then been shortened as can be seen from the shifted barrel key loops leaving the marks of the old
loops. The barrel has then at a much later date gone to Enfield to be percussioned. It must have been held as a spare for years until called upon with the
demand for new muskets to make up for the inadequate supply of New Pattern 1842 arms.

To Adrian: No problem at all to send you photos. Just drop me a message with your e-mail address and details of what shots you require and they will be off to
to you within a few days.

To Bill: Thank you for your excellent input on Crimean War weapons. I have learned a lot. Greatly appreciated! I have no doubt that you are correct about the
Extra Service musket. The lock date is 1850 and it is of the flat profile.

Andre, not under any control of mine. I, also, would like a literary section restored as early firearm and explosive book collecting is a major passion of mine. However, I imagine it was pulled for lack of support.

Yes. In the Crimea the Rifle Brigade used the Pattern 1851 Minies until they received the new Pattern 1853 Enfields during 1855. The Short Pattern 1856 did not reach the Crimea. The Brunswick was not used in the Crimea by the British although the Russian specialist rifle troops used their own Belgian made version, the Luttich, with great effect as it had modified sights and a conical winged bullet.